New Program called "The Key"

[ChrissyJon01]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

On Indy people with the Key don't need reservations because no one needs reservations as the ship doesn't have a reservation system.

Ok so then it varies per ship. The ships that do have a reservation system require reservations... Vice versa.

[Steeple01]

Just saw that the Key on Alaska Ovation sailings this summer was increased to $29.99!

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, ChrissyJon01 said:

Ok so then it varies per ship. The ships that do have a reservation system require reservations... Vice versa.

Correct, my point was that it is really big of RCI to offer no reservations as a benefit to the Key buyers on ships that have no reservations. People who are not aware of how things work think they are buying a benefit when they actually are not.

[RFerrington]

On 4/30/2019 at 4:23 PM, Reginaldvanpelt said:

Is an embarkation lunch a perk for a suite?

No.  On FoS now and no special lunch for suites on embark day.  We ate at Chops on embark day but we had the UDP which was honored.  For those of us with UDP we were given the regular lunch menu while Key got the more limited Key lunch menu.

[er345]

1 hour ago, Steeple01 said:

Just saw that the Key on Alaska Ovation sailings this summer was increased to $29.99!

And there is the marketing.  The Ovation Key (for August 2019) was $37.99 all last week, and now it’s $29.99.  So now people who didn’t know it was once $19.99 and then $24.99 think that $29.99 is a sale compared to last week. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

I would like to know if, after six months and over 2,500 posts, anybody has changed their initial impression of the Key program?  I have read every post and still believe that the Key has no value for me.  Anybody change their mind?

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

Anybody change their mind?

Yes, it’s now even more worthless than when the program first started. 

[brillohead]

10 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Yes, it’s now even more worthless than when the program first started. 

Agreed.

[Keksie]

I really enjoyed the Key when we had on the Serenade and would get it again.

[RadioPeri]

20 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I would like to know if, after six months and over 2,500 posts, anybody has changed their initial impression of the Key program?  I have read every post and still believe that the Key has no value for me.  Anybody change their mind?

 

Not me. I started out thinking it was not a good value at all for us and I haven't changed my mind one bit.

 

Well, that's not really true ... it wasn't worth it for us at $20 a day, and it's far LESS worth it for anything more than that.

[alexpfsu]

45 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I would like to know if, after six months and over 2,500 posts, anybody has changed their initial impression of the Key program?  I have read every post and still believe that the Key has no value for me.  Anybody change their mind?

Yes.  I booked it the 1st day it came out for 19.99. Main reasons for booking was Chops lunch (now a different menu), no reservations for shows on Symphony (now you need them), private hours on flowrider (now only 1 item on port days from what others have posted).

 

We sail June 1st on Symphony and we are now looking to cancel.

 

From what others posted about Terminal A in Miami you don't really have any issues boarding, so that perk isn't really a perk.  I can get Voom and Chops lunch way cheaper on its own than the Key.

 

Only new item that I have seen posted that I like is the towel check out that you get with the Key now (which isn't listed anywhere,  but everyone on Symphony has been taking about getting now. )

[RG306]

33 minutes ago, alexpfsu said:

Yes.  I booked it the 1st day it came out for 19.99. Main reasons for booking was Chops lunch (now a different menu), no reservations for shows on Symphony (now you need them), private hours on flowrider (now only 1 item on port days from what others have posted).

 

We sail June 1st on Symphony and we are now looking to cancel.

 

From what others posted about Terminal A in Miami you don't really have any issues boarding, so that perk isn't really a perk.  I can get Voom and Chops lunch way cheaper on its own than the Key.

 

Only new item that I have seen posted that I like is the towel check out that you get with the Key now (which isn't listed anywhere,  but everyone on Symphony has been taking about getting now. )

I agree.  We have time until our sailing in November so I'm waiting to cancel.  I'm hoping that the hours improve or we'll find something better to spend our money on.

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, alexpfsu said:

Yes.  I booked it the 1st day it came out for 19.99. Main reasons for booking was Chops lunch (now a different menu).....

 

Don’t worry about missing Chops lunch.  I did the embarkation day lunch on the Brilliance in January and again on the Symphony in March with non-Key reservations and had totally different experiences.  It was almost deserted and absolutely peaceful on the Brilliance, with attentive service.  It was totally full with a long line of Key guests on the Symphony, and far from quiet.  We were also restricted to the Key menu although we paid full price, servers were hustling, and there were larger family groups present with children who I believe would have been happier in the Windjammer.

[RW_MI]

I just got back from Navigator using the Key program.  It was $20 per day when I booked, and I wanted internet anyway, so it was a $56 experiment, purchased mostly for the Flowrider.

 

I'd talked with someone from Royal beforehand and they gave me a tentative Flowrider schedule. It wasn't great, and was worse when I got on the ship:  Day 3 (my favorite port Roatan) from 11-11:30, Day 4 (another port day) 2 - 2:30, and Day 7 (sea day) 2-2:30.

 

The Royal person had promised (via email) that Key members would also get priority during regular sessions.  I printed that email and took it, but it wasn't needed.  The Flowrider staff were familiar with the Key and said they prioritized based on the number of Key guests and others in line.  I took advantage of it a couple times. They suggested every 5th person, and I waited a little more than that.  Later in the week, I just felt too self conscious to do it, but that's on me.

 

I went to the final Key session. They did check cards for the Key emblem, and there were probably 8 -10 of us.  I was feeling pretty whiplashed after my first turn, so didn't stick around.  

 

Going back to embarkation, we made a stop on the way so I wasn't on board until just after 1:30, and there was no crowd, so no need for priority.  I didn't realize it was 1:40 when I arrived at Chops, but no mention was made of the 1:30 stop time.  It wasn't crowded at all and lunch was good - a nice start.

 

I used the priority debarkation at one port, and it was fine, but didn't use for the other ports.  I wish I could have used it in Grand Cayman (tender port), but was doing an excursion with DS and his girlfriend and they were tender 14.  Ugh - hours later.

 

I used the priority seating for the skating show, which was great.  (No reservations on our cruise.)  Didn't do the debark breakfast.

 

All in all, not sorry I got it, and I'll see how it evolves before I decide whether to keep it for my next cruise...if Royal even keeps it around.  

[whyrlygig]

 

We purchased it at $19.99 for Navigator (7 day last week).  I am not sure we would do it again if the price is higher than we paid.  We used it for many of the features tho I could live without some of them.  For instance the Chops lunch was painful long and we would skip that next time.  The priority show seating was nice but was unnecessary because (other than the ice show), it was never full.    The priority activities were at times we had other things booked so we didn't use any those.  We loved avoiding all the long lines as well as the quiet breakfast the final morning.

[Reynolds13]

Just boarded Oasis. Our boarding time was assigned as 1:15 got onto ship around 2pm. Chops is limiting us to Entrees only as they ended lunch service at 1:30. They are providing us with complimentary dinner service. 

 

Special hours for activites are all limited to 1hr each on the last day of our itinerary. 

 

Got it the key at $19.99 which doesn’t feel worth it. 

[CruiseJoyful]

So there was no priority boarding for you in Barcelona? 

We're on Oasis in June, looking forward to hearing more reviews specifically about The Key on these sailings in Europe. Thanks!

[EricainDC]

yikes on Oasis Med cruise the only reserved hours are on the last day?!?! I'm on June 23 and thinking of canceling The Key if that's the case.

[RG306]

On 5/2/2019 at 6:49 PM, ZoeyVictoria said:

I would like to know if, after six months and over 2,500 posts, anybody has changed their initial impression of the Key program?  I have read every post and still believe that the Key has no value for me.  Anybody change their mind?

 

I'm pretty sure we will be cancelling the Key.  Initially, it sounded really promising.  We're going to be on the Symphony which has had some disappointing reviews.  The fact that the hours have been cut so significantly for activities reduces the value tremendously in my opinion.  Terminal A appears to have embarkation down to a science so that negates early embarkation.  We were on the fence about the carry on drop.  Internet is very affordable these days.  The reserved seats are what I'll miss but again when we initially booked no reservations were required.

 

We currently have the Key and a 3 night Dining package, I think I might take this money and splurge on the unlimited dining instead and just buy internet.  

[xpcdoojk]

On 5/2/2019 at 6:13 PM, RadioPeri said:

 

Not me. I started out thinking it was not a good value at all for us and I haven't changed my mind one bit.

 

Well, that's not really true ... it wasn't worth it for us at $20 a day, and it's far LESS worth it for anything more than that.

 

I am still waiting for an apology.  Which I realize will never happen because I was just a prop in your victimhood game.

 

On the off chance you GAS then I will wait.

 

jc

[Ron Don]

On 5/2/2019 at 5:49 PM, ZoeyVictoria said:

I would like to know if, after six months and over 2,500 posts, anybody has changed their initial impression of the Key program?  I have read every post and still believe that the Key has no value for me.  Anybody change their mind? 

We have changed our minds....just canceled our $19.95 payment we made for our Key for our upcoming cruise in September on the Symphony.  We will use our D+ benefits for some of the perks of the Key and do without others.  I believe we can get along just fine without it and save $280 in the process.

[alexpfsu]

20 minutes ago, Ron Don said:

We have changed our minds....just canceled our $19.95 payment we made for our Key for our upcoming cruise in September on the Symphony.  We will use our D+ benefits for some of the perks of the Key and do without others.  I believe we can get along just fine without it and save $280 in the process.

We sail on Symphony in 25 days.  Still on the fence but looking like I will call to cancel it before it is to late.  We also paid under $20 for it.  Trying to wait until the last minute before doing it in case it changes again (as it seems to be changing weekly on Symphony of the Seas).  So maybe it will get better.

 

If i was on any other ship right now I think we would keep it, but Symphony seems to have it all wrong from what people on the ship are reporting. (No I am not talking about what people think, I am talking about people who are sailing right now with "the Key" on Symphony only....and thank you for keeping us updated with your live post about the Key.)

[JoeFan]

I am on the fence about dropping.  I purchased at $19.99/Day for 4 people for a 7 day HOS on 8/25. For a whopping $560. I would get the internet anyway so this is a $369 upgrade over the Voom.

 

My son wouldn't eat Chops lunch anyway. So it would still be $300 dollar upgrade.

WIth the limited private times at crappy windows and discouraging people to use the jump the line pass. I am just about out.

I have some time before my cruise, so I will hang onto it to see how this evolves.

[alexpfsu]

7 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

WIth the limited private times at crappy windows and discouraging people to use the jump the line pass. I am just about out.

Are we still able to get priority time during regular hours?  I wasn't sure if this is still going on after only a few people posted about it.  If so do we know what ships are doing this?

[JoeFan]

2 minutes ago, alexpfsu said:

Are we still able to get priority time during regular hours?  I wasn't sure if this is still going on after only a few people posted about it.  If so do we know what ships are doing this?

 

I don't know. It sounds like each ship is interpreting this differently and doing their own thing.